The Delhi Police has arrested a man and his two friends a day after he allegedly stabbed a 24-year-old woman to death for repeatedly turning down his proposals, officials said on Wednesday.
Police said the main accused, Ankit Gaba (24), fractured his legs as he jumped off the second floor of an under-construction building in Dwarka Sector 23 while trying to evade the arrest.
Officials said that investigators have not interrogated Gaba as he was admitted to a hospital, adding that things will become clearer only after his questioning.
Gaba's two friends --- Himanshu (20) and Manish Sharma --- have also been arrested and they are all residents of southwest Delhi's Uttam Nagar area.
On Tuesday around 2.15 am, while emergency response vehicle was patrolling, they received information by a delivery boy that a woman was lying in a pool of blood near Gurudwara Sewa Simran at Street number-1, Uttam Nagar, a senior police officer said.
Police reached the spot. The victim, identified as Dolly Babber, was rushed to DDU hospital where she was declared brought dead, the officer said.
Inquiry revealed that around 11.30 pm, Ms Babber had gone to attend her friend's birthday party along with her friends Ankit, Himanshu and Manish. Her brother Lakshay said that Ms Babber told them that she was going to her friend's birthday party at 11.30 pm, police said.
Police formed six teams to arrest all the accused. All the CCTV cameras installed in the area were analyzed and it was found that the incident happened around 1.38 am. In the video, the accused is seen stabbing her once. Later, he stabs the the victim six more times, the officer said.
Prima-facie it has been found that Babber was known to the three and in the evening, they were partying together on the terrace of an under-construction building at Matiala Road, near to the residence of Babber, where Gaba was also present, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Shankar Choudhary said.
During the party, an argument broke out between Gaba and Babber over "some personal issues and alleged inter personal relations” which turned into a fight, the DCP said.
They all came downstairs and Gaba, who had reached there on his scooter, took out a knife from the two-wheeler and stabbed Babber in the presence of his friends. After stabbing her, he left the spot along with his two friends. The woman received seven stab wounds and was declared brought dead in the hospital, police said.
After the incident, police checked the CCTV footage. The accused went to Vikas Nagar and took an auto to Anand Vihar. They wanted to go to Chandigarh, but did not get a bus for the city. They then hired another auto-rickshaw and went to Kashmiri Gate ISBT. From the ISBT, the accused took a bus for Chandigarh and travelled to Patiala, police said.
Police conducted raids in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana at their possible hideouts. They were running out of money and returned to the national capital from Patiala, they said.
Later, police got a tip-off and arrested Himanshu and Manish from Dwarka Mor. On their instance, police went to an under-construction building in Dwarka Sector-23 area to nab Gaba. In order to escape, Gaba jumped from the second floor of the building and suffered injuries, police said.
The weapon of offence has also been recovered from the spot.
Ms Babber was working with an even management company before the lockdown. Himashu and Manish also worked with Babber. Gaba has a medical shop. They all live in a same locality, they said.
Police said there were issues between Gaba and Babber. However, it is yet to be ascertained as the prime accused is in hospital and he is yet to be interrogated.
